JCU paper pushes for full focus on tropics
Posted: Wed Apr 10, 2013 3:40 pmJCU paper pushes for full focus on tropics
by: Kylar Loussikian
From: The Australian
March 27, 2013 12:00AM
JAMES Cook University plans to distil all its teaching, research and community engagement efforts to concentrate on a single key theme -- the tropics.
At the same time, it will close courses that are not adequately aligned to the "strategic intent" or have low enrolments.
The plan is contained in two documents developed by senior management, and which detail aspirational goals for the university in a strategic paper called "Crystallising our Purpose".
The paper identifies coral reefs, climate change, water resources, fisheries and infectious disease research as current strengths, and sees growth in environmental change and human health research, tropical architecture and governance in the tropics studies.
A second paper, a review of services and operations, outlines present shortcomings delivering student services, lengthy course approval processes, and a failure to provide enough teaching and research support for staff.
Some fear the narrow emphasis on the tropics will mean the loss of general courses and funding for research that doesn't neatly fit into the new strategy.
National Tertiary Education Union branch organiser Peter Whalley-Thompson said such changes would "leave the hard sciences and the arts in the breeze".
"Thanks to contestable research funding, management have had to promise to do all sorts of things; all very good, but it is resource intensive, we can't do more with less," he said.
Chris Cocklin, senior deputy vice-chancellor, said such fears were unfounded. Teaching would remain focused on serving northern Queensland as prescribed by the university charter.
But research funding would continue to flow to work that met the tropics-focused research strategy, as it had for the past three years.
JCU would encourage staff to rework their research to be relevant to the tropics theme, he said.
Tropical architecture would likely make a return, added Professor Cocklin, who also chaired the review, as would an attempt to rebuild former expertise on governance strategies in tropical countries.
Although the review criticises some of the student support structures, Professor Cocklin said there were no plans to rush into online-only courses, but he was keen to increase multi-campus teaching.
"The Singapore campus could sensibly become the university's base for the teaching of business. Townsville already has a reputation in marine science while Cairns is strongly developing a complementary strength in terrestrial environmental sciences," the Crystallising our Future strategy paper says.
Professor Cocklin predicted "profound" change to academic staff. Changes in learning would need more flexible staffing hours and a flatter hierarchy.
The NTEU is opposing similar proposed changes and is locked in enterprise negotiations with management. Mr Whalley-Thompson said there would be a big impact on north Queensland if the university cut staff.
But the strategy paper notes the "recruitment and retention of world-class, competitive academic staff is the single most important factor in driving research performance".
A ranking by Nature last week noted that JCU was placed fifth in Australia and 30th in the Asia-Pacific region, up from 65 a year ago and 351 in 2010.
The index measures the number of scholarly papers published by institutions in the 18 journals in the Nature stable.
JCU was the top-ranked Asia-Pacific institution in Nature Climate Change, and is also the biggest Australian contributor (just ahead of ANU) to the country's earth and environmental sciences count.
The Nature ranking predicted that based on JCU's trajectory over recent years it could be expected to reach the world's top 100 index by next year.
ADDITIONAL REPORTING: JULIE HARE
by: Kylar Loussikian
From: The Australian
March 27, 2013 12:00AM
JAMES Cook University plans to distil all its teaching, research and community engagement efforts to concentrate on a single key theme -- the tropics.
At the same time, it will close courses that are not adequately aligned to the "strategic intent" or have low enrolments.
The plan is contained in two documents developed by senior management, and which detail aspirational goals for the university in a strategic paper called "Crystallising our Purpose".
The paper identifies coral reefs, climate change, water resources, fisheries and infectious disease research as current strengths, and sees growth in environmental change and human health research, tropical architecture and governance in the tropics studies.
A second paper, a review of services and operations, outlines present shortcomings delivering student services, lengthy course approval processes, and a failure to provide enough teaching and research support for staff.
Some fear the narrow emphasis on the tropics will mean the loss of general courses and funding for research that doesn't neatly fit into the new strategy.
National Tertiary Education Union branch organiser Peter Whalley-Thompson said such changes would "leave the hard sciences and the arts in the breeze".
"Thanks to contestable research funding, management have had to promise to do all sorts of things; all very good, but it is resource intensive, we can't do more with less," he said.
Chris Cocklin, senior deputy vice-chancellor, said such fears were unfounded. Teaching would remain focused on serving northern Queensland as prescribed by the university charter.
But research funding would continue to flow to work that met the tropics-focused research strategy, as it had for the past three years.
JCU would encourage staff to rework their research to be relevant to the tropics theme, he said.
Tropical architecture would likely make a return, added Professor Cocklin, who also chaired the review, as would an attempt to rebuild former expertise on governance strategies in tropical countries.
Although the review criticises some of the student support structures, Professor Cocklin said there were no plans to rush into online-only courses, but he was keen to increase multi-campus teaching.
"The Singapore campus could sensibly become the university's base for the teaching of business. Townsville already has a reputation in marine science while Cairns is strongly developing a complementary strength in terrestrial environmental sciences," the Crystallising our Future strategy paper says.
Professor Cocklin predicted "profound" change to academic staff. Changes in learning would need more flexible staffing hours and a flatter hierarchy.
The NTEU is opposing similar proposed changes and is locked in enterprise negotiations with management. Mr Whalley-Thompson said there would be a big impact on north Queensland if the university cut staff.
But the strategy paper notes the "recruitment and retention of world-class, competitive academic staff is the single most important factor in driving research performance".
A ranking by Nature last week noted that JCU was placed fifth in Australia and 30th in the Asia-Pacific region, up from 65 a year ago and 351 in 2010.
The index measures the number of scholarly papers published by institutions in the 18 journals in the Nature stable.
JCU was the top-ranked Asia-Pacific institution in Nature Climate Change, and is also the biggest Australian contributor (just ahead of ANU) to the country's earth and environmental sciences count.
The Nature ranking predicted that based on JCU's trajectory over recent years it could be expected to reach the world's top 100 index by next year.
ADDITIONAL REPORTING: JULIE HARE